Always write out a script. People say they don’t like to read of scripts cause it sounds “too rehearsed,” and that’s because you don’t know the script so you’re reading it and of course it sounds rehearsed or robotic. Remember, people need to feel emotionally compelled to meet with you, stay on the phone or buy from you, and the way to do that is to write out the perfect script. Every time you watch a movie and it’s made you laugh, cry or get angry, they used a script. So use one too and take the time to make it perfect.
Jordan Belfort, better known as the Wolf of Wall Street, told a great story one time about how we was put into a study that was researching salespeople. He was told to read a scenario, take as much time to prepare and close the decision maker. He read it over and took about two hours writing out the perfect script. He ended up closing the decision maker who then admitted that he wasn’t supposed to say “yes,” but Jordan was too compelling. He later found out that out of 100 salespeople studied he was the only one who got the close, but even more interesting is everyone else spent no more than five minutes preparing, while he took two hours.
Point is, prepare for every call, every meeting, every interaction, because if you know it front and back then you won’t focus on what you’re going to say, you’ll just focus on how to say it. It’ll make you come across more confident, which will in turn rub off on the prospect and make them feel confident in buying from you.